Spring 2020 Update

On Thursday night (3/26), I "finished" Testimony, and by "finished" I don't mean finished finished, but only mostly finished. That is, it would be playable as a complete piece in its Thursday night state, but it still needs some polishing. The final work has started -- listening and making tweaks here and there. I initially thought another two weeks or so, but after what I've done yesterday and today, it's looking more like the end of the week -- first week of April. This one's a little heavier than my previously posted orchestral pieces here (more percussion, more brass), and also longer -- currently a little over 16 minutes; it may get closer to 17', but probably not over that.

You might ask why I'm posting this if the next piece is expected within the week. And I might answer that question. Okay, I will answer it. I've been getting more traffic here lately, and I just want to let visitors know that there is definitely something new coming soon, so don't get bored and wander off.

Also, it's in case it takes a little longer than I expect... but it won't. It probably won't; less than 12% chance that it will. And if it does, it won't be much longer. Again, probably, or even a little more certain than probably. My activity here is pretty sporadic, and while I don't expect that I'll be putting up new stuff every day (or even every week), there will be a new one here very soon, and it'll be the biggest one yet. I'm pretty excited about it, as you'd be able to tell if you could hear me typing this right now. And to prove it, I'll even put an exclamation point at the end of this sentence!

Of course, if I was really trying to promote my site, I probably shouldn't be doing it on the site itself where only the people already coming here can see it, but I really don't care that much; I just want to let those who do visit know what's coming up.

There, that sounds sufficiently redundant. Stay tuned... or whatever it is you do with websites.

Perenepsis X: Nickels

Yeah, another one of these. I didn't set out to write another Perenepsis, but the idea that came to me about three weeks ago just ended up working out that way. Another thing that wasn't intentional is how it's related to Perenepsis IX -- that one used a scale based on alternating minor seconds and minor thirds; this one is based strongly on a pattern of alternating major seconds and major thirds (although not used so much strictly as a scale here). Purely coincidental... as far as anyone knows.

The alternating major second and major third outlines a tritone, which is a very unstable (i.e., fun) interval, and led to a few fun things that happen in this rather short piece. At about 2 minutes long, it came out shorter than I had initially expected, but that little bit at the end just struck me as being very final; the only way to lengthen it would've been to add more before that, but I didn't feel like doing so... well, except that after "finishing" it two weeks ago and wondering why I hadn't posted it yet, I did a little bit of just that yesterday. Not so much to lengthen it, though, but to balance the two main sections, and to smooth out the transition to the coda.

The subtitle -- Nickels -- refers to the fact that the time signature opens in 5/4, and after that shifts between that and 5/8, so it's all fives. It's also a disguised answer to a school question. As usual (but not always!), I have no idea what's next, or when.

Note: For those viewing this around the time of posting, you'll notice that while I've chosen cool colors for the video, I've already shifted the site's color scheme to more of a spring flavor. This is an attempt to use reverse psychology on Mother Nature, thinking that if I pretend that spring has sprung early, it might stay cool longer. I know it won't work, but that's no excuse not to try.